Hishna

Hishna is one of the three forms of "talismanic" magic native to the Maztica region of the Forgotten Realms. Its counterparts are Pluma and Teoatl.

Also known as "Talonmagic", hishna was the first magical style to emerge in Maztica, and was a gift to mortals from the god Zaltec, who used this gift to win greater favor amongst their ranks and ascend to the position as god of the dominant religion, until Qotal came along and introduced pluma. Hishna uses natural weaponry - claws, fangs and stingers - as symbolic channels for the energies of death, darkness and despair. One could potentially call hishna wielders the closest thing that Maztica has to evokers, but that is an imperfect analogy, since whilst hishna is the more directly combat-focused of the two schools, it's still very short on directly offensive magic. Other symbols of hishna are depictions of Zaltec, and the apex predators of Maztica; jaguars, snakes, alligators and vultures. The "sacred animal" of hishna is the Jaguar Lord.

Hishna wielders tend to be social outcasts - not because Mazticans fear their magic, but because they tend to be jerks, who are tolerated because their spells offer greater success in hunting and protection against worse things lurking out in the darkness of the jungle. The exception are the Jaguar Knights, a highly respected warrior lodge who used hishna to craft enchanted ceremonial armor that allows them to take the form of jaguars.

Hishnashaper kit

The Hishnashaper and Plumaweaver were... not exactly the greatest of spellcasting kits. Both were actually built on the Rogue chassis and had the spellcasting abilities of a Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition style Half Caster. In fact, it was literally a plot point in the tie-in/prequel novels for Maztica that the native mages sucked so much, as it allowed one decently high leveled Faerun wizard to basically curbstomp her way across the continent, something D&D fans have come to consider increasingly embarrassing over time.

Collectively, Hishnashapers and Plumaweavers are called Artisans, and use the Rogue THACO, Experience Points/Level Advancement and Saving Throw tables in conjunction with the kit materials below. Their spellcasting progression is basically that of the 5e Half Caster; they don't start casting spells until 2nd level, and their spells max out at 5th level in potency.

Requirements: Intelligence 13, Dexterity 12

Mandatory Proficiencies: Dagger, Animal Lore, Animal Training, Tracking

Weapon Proficiencies: Dagger, Spear, Spear-Caster, Club

Special Benefit: Can Backstab as if they were a Thief of the same level

Available Races: Human, Halfling

List of Hishna spells

• Cat Charm (1st level)
• Disguise (1st level)
• Huntsman's Call (1st level)
• Protection (1st level)
• Snake Charm (1st level)
• Talonblade (1st level)
• Ambush (2nd level)
• Heartsense (2nd level)
• Hypnosis (2nd level)
• Scrollsee (2nd level)
• Scalesnare (2nd level)
• Darkness (3rd level)
• Drought (3rd level)
• Net (3rd level)
• Pestilence (3rd level)
• Cursed Image (4th Level)
• Fire (4th level)
• Sending (4th level)
• Cursed Image (4th level)
• Create Talisman (5th level)
• Jaguar Form (5th level)

5th Edition

Hishna and Pluma have yet to officially return in Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, since Wizards of the Coast is understandably leery of touching the whole "Fantasy Aztecs" thing. But one absolute madlad took it upon himself to exploit a loophole in the rules for the DM's Guild to launch a complete edition conversion of Maztica, complete with the iconic forms of native magic.

So, what did this guy do different to TSR? Well, he created a full Artisan class - still a Half Caster, but now exploiting the class features and subclasses mechanics to give it more of an "oomph". It arguably is still kind of a subpar Artificer, but hey, points for trying! He also converted the Eagle and Jaguar Knights to 5e as Paladin subclasses, and added two new Wizard subclasses, the Plumacaster and Hishnacaster, so you now have a Maztican Full Caster option. This also led to a drastic expansion of the Maztican spell lists, including plenty of offensive spells for both schools.